You and I, In This World
by ScherzoVivace
Summary: They were secret assassins ever since their juvenile years. And now they live as both secret assassins and college students. A story of a young couple finding the meaning of life and each other. *Serious fic with emotional themes. AU YukimuraxOCxNiou
1. Us

**Hello! This is ScheVi. This story was finished a long time ago as You and I, In this World, but I found many flaws in it; I'm making major changes, adding and deleting some storylines. **

**By the way, I didn't like how most people portrayed Niou as some cunning, sly, almost devilish and mean trickster. He could be sweet, y'know? :) Here you go, enjoy. **

**Foreign language**

Normal

_Non-speech, flashback, dream_

Chapter 1: Us

"_Aw, shit, I just remembered… Miho, did we have any homework?" _A voice came through a transmitter.

"Focus, Haru, focus." She mumbled quietly, tracing the neon green figure of the said boy slowly through a night-vision scope.

"_Miho~" _The boy whined in such an irresistibly cute way; the girl chuckled.

"No we didn't, so let's focus on this for now, alright?" A girl spoke to the transmitter as she looked down from the top of a tall pole. She was looking at a baby-blue haired boy in a black armor through a scope of a sniper.

"Haru, they're on your way. 23 Northeast, 14 Southwest."

"_Haraue Miho, number 13. 19 years old, born on December 3__rd__. Blood type: AB. Height: 166 centimeters. Specialty: all rounded, especially in intelligence, sharpshooting, and melee. Known as the number one elite of Tartarus, she graduated the top and the youngest in history of Tartarus agents after 4 years of training."_

She was wearing a black, special operation armor that matched the former boy—and had a sniper in her hand. Her black hair was scrunched up into a ponytail, and her black eyes seemed to perceive everything on the ground like those of an eagle searching for the prey.

"_Got it, princess." _A voice came from the other side, and there was a gunshot—as soon as it rang out, the girl jumped off of the pole.

"_Niou Masaharu, number 00. 19 years old, born on December 4__th__. Blood type: AB. Height: 175 centimeters. Specialty: all rounded, especially in intelligence, ranged combat, and art of disguise. Known as the Trickster, he graduated top at Tartarus agents training three years after Haraue Miho, took 6 years of training." _

"Let the game begin."

The girl jumped off—then she threw up a hook, which helped her stop a foot before she reached the ground. As she did so, she took the gun in her hands, pulled the trigger, and shot down four men. She then rushed towards where the gun shot came from; her partner was surrounded by several men.

"Hand over that chip if you want to live!" A fat man in suit demanded.

"Chip? Want potato chips? Man, you're fat enough as you are now." The rattail boy laughed as he playfully pulled out a bag of potato chips from his backpack.

"You…!"

"Oop, she's here fellas, you're all dead."

"What—OOF" The man was interfered as a foot planted right on his face, knocking him several feet away. The former boy in the same attire as the girl had now taken down five men in blink of an eye with a dexterity, and the two fought alongside.

"_The two partners are perfect in every area with flawless teamwork. They are known as the genius team, treasure of Tartarus, and has been working together ever since they turned 16. They completed about 500 missions so far—and never failed a single mission for the past four years."_

After the final shot, the two were left alone, and bodies were laying on the ground.

"Mission complete." The rattail boy said, and high-fived with the girl. They started to walk away from the scene after they called the police—the tall boy trailed behind the girl with an impish yet innocent grin on his face.

"Where's the chip?" She asked.

"Right here." He handed the chip to her.

"Well, so much for a tiny chip." The girl lifted the chip under the street lamp light and examined it. It was barely as big as her fingernail.

"That is tiny. I wonder what's in it?" He took a closer look at it too.

"Peh, something that rich people fuss over about. We'll just do our job and get out of the way." She put it back into her safe pocket and got into their motorcycles. They started the engine; from a distance, they could hear the police car sirens.

"Let's go."

They then stepped on their pedals and started to drive away. After 30 minutes of driving on the highway, they finally reached their hotel. After they took off their armors and revealed regular clothes, they headed inside the hotel.

"Hey, hey, Miho~ I think our combination and teamwork is just ballin'! Don't ya think?" He laughed and asked, walking next to her.

"When did it ever not?" She simply replied, continuing to walk through the corridor.

"That's my princess." He chuckled and said, tackling her and putting his arm around her.

"You know me." She chuckled too, grabbing his arm that was thrown around her small figure.

"Damn well I do."

The two were both 20 years of age—they met when they were 16, and started working together since then. They were under a secret organization named Tartarus—an organization that handled activities requiring more skill than the FBIs or CIAs. It was spread throughout the world, connected by an intricate, discrete link.

* * *

"_Haraue, this is your new partner." A man introduced a boy to a girl._

"_So you're _the famous _Haraue Miho. I heard you graduated top out of all the Tartarus agents. In three years too." A rattail boy with baby blue hair and mole on his chin greeted the shorter girl with black hair and black eyes. "Nice to meet you, I'm Niou Masaharu." He held out his hand, which girl plainly and boringly shook. _

"_Haraue Miho." She curtly said, and turned away. "I thought we went over this, Mr. Herms. I work alone. So Niou, I hope you find another compatible partner to work with." And she walked away. _

"_Dammit that girl! Why can't she see that Hades wants her to work with someone!" The guy ruffled his hair in frustration. _

"_I can convince her." Niou said, looking at Miho who was walking away. _

"_Well, good luck on that. It's already her 54__th__ decline on a partner." He sighed and looked at the girl. "I need to find her a partner by end of this week… dammit." _

"_I'll convince her, just watch." The boy's eyes glinted in joy as he walked confidently towards the girl. He put his hand on her shoulder, until—_

"_UWWAHH!" He yelled as the girl took his hand and flipped him over using her shoulder. She pinned him down, and looked at him. _

"_Oh, it's you." She stood up without much expression. _

"_As I expected from the top—ugh…" Niou whistled as he got off the floor. Miho began to walk away in annoyance, but Niou ran, caught up and stood in front of her._

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa… don't be in such hassle!" _

"_What is it." She frowned a little from irritation._

"_I have a deal. An interesting one."_

* * *

"I really don't want to go." She said as she tapped her foot inside an elevator. She was dressed in a black shoulder dress that wrapped tightly around her curves and fell just above her knees. Her hair was down and her black hair that flowed down matched well with the dress.

Niou was dressed nicely also; he had a dress shirt loose for top two buttons, a black dress pants and a jacket. _'Well, when did I not?' _He thought.

"Aw come one, it's for our benefit!" Niou who stood next to her grinned and looked at the panel showing the floors they were on. "Besides, we get to be the superstar of Tartarus!"

"Give that to the dogs." Miho mumbled, and Niou just chuckled.

"It looks like our princess is in a bad mood~" He leaned to her and said.

"Shut up." She groaned and replied.

"You look beautiful today though." Niou put on a sly grin and complimented; Miho just scoffed.

"Thanks, I guess. You do too…?" Miho trailed off and Niou chuckled.

"What's up with the suspicious question mark at the end?" He laughed and asked playfully.

"Eh, don't worry about it." She said and earned a playful push to the shoulder.

"But how come you decided to wear a dress today?" He asked, looking at her.

"I'm wearing it because that old man won't leave me alone regarding party etiquettes." She spat out in contempt, and Niou chuckled again.

"Hades really does want you to be perfect, huh?" Niou asked, and Miho just tacitly nodded. "Well no wonder, you're his granddaughter."

"That's the part that I dislike the most."

The elevator stopped with a cling, and the fancy door opened and revealed an elegant party hall.

"May I have the honor of escorting you tonight, Princess?" Niou put his arm out for Miho to hold with a big silly grin on his face, and Miho did as requested.

"Let's go, prince charming."

The dining hall was full of people from all sorts of places—from the Tartarus organization, to FBI, CIA, the government, the upper "wealthy" class, and more that were involved in secretive activities.

"May I have your attention—" A voice rang out in the hall, and an old man—with a very nice suit, a white beard, and a cane in his hand—was standing up on the stage in the front of the hall. Everyone's attention turned to him, and he cleared his throat.

"Just today, our elite pair—the most proficient, outstanding pair proved on Earth has come back from a tremendously crucial mission. They snuck into a mafia's ground and managed to retreat a microchip containing top secret information of the UN. With this the nuclear weapon secrets are secure, and the world is at peace." He said and everyone marveled and clapped again.

"That was easier than the one we did last time." Niou whispered to Miho and she nodded.

"—To celebrate the highlight of this year's missions, could the two come up to the stage?" The old man announced and looked around.

"Are you serious, old man." Miho grumbled and tried to make her way to the elevator but failed as Niou got a hold of her.

"Come on, we're in the spotlight princess." He smiled, holding her hand and making their way to the stage.

As they did, they earned some coos and marvels. The guys whistled at Miho, while the girls fawned over Niou. Miho was definitely not happy with the way things turned out.

"These two are the treasures of our organization. They never failed a task for four years, and has set a record for the fastest time on finishing a mission. Could we give a big round of applause for the two?" He asked, and cheers and applauses broke out.

"Just smile." Niou whispered to Miho, and she barely managed to smile.

"I hate you." She tried to say without removing her rather awkward smile.

"Love you too." He replied back in much happier tone.

After the big disaster caused by the Hades, Miho and Niou were surrounded by people trying to socialize with them. Little did they know, Miho didn't appreciate upper class so much.

"Are you two dating?" One of the girls asked. Of course, Miho expected the question to come up again.

"No, we're just partners."

At that the girls squealed and surrounded Niou like rabid fan girls. Niou sent her the help-me look, but Miho wanted to tease him—she merely stood there and smirked.

"Haraue-san." Someone called her while she was having fun watching Niou in trouble.

"Fuji-san. Good evening." She smiled sincerely. He took her hand and kissed the back of it gently. Fuji was a nice guy although he was rich, probably the only person out of the wealthy class that she actually could cope with.

"Good evening. You look beautiful today—although you always have been." He said and smiled, which Miho returned.

Niou was watching this as he was being crowded by the girls; if there was one person that he didn't particularly like, it was Fuji Syuusuke. And he did _not_ just kiss Miho's hand. How dare he.

"I didn't know you went on a mission again… it's only been three days since the last one, shouldn't you get a good rest time to time?" He asked, genuinely concerned for the girl.

"Oh, no, it's fine. We do get good rests."

"It's still some hard work you do… You've saved the world, Haraue-san." He smiled and complimented.

'_Hard work… more like dirty work.' _She thought inside although she smiled back in courtesy.

"Say, Haraue-san, do you have time tomorrow? At night? I would love to take you out to a cruise. I heard that the nightscape is wonderful "

"Ah, that—" Miho hesitated, slightly taken aback at a such big proposal.

Niou had excused himself from the girls, and walked over to Miho and Fuji.

"Oh, hello Fuji-san, I didn't know you were here today." Niou said, as he wrapped his arms around Miho's waist, pulling her to his body. Fuji's eyes definitely followed his arm; but he greeted nicely nonetheless.

"Good evening, Niou-kun."

"I'm sorry to say (_not)_, but she has some plans with me tomorrow. Well, it looks like Miho's tired from the mission, so we'll be returning. Right Miho? I'm really tired too…" Niou tightened his grasp around Miho's waist and started to turn her body towards the elevator.

"Oh. Yeah, let's get some rest, you must be tired." She smiled at Niou. "Sorry Fuji-san, I don't think I could tomorrow. Maybe another time."

"Ah, of course. Take care." He smiled, although he definitely seemed to glare at Niou. Niou smirked back in victory.

"What are you doing?" Miho whispered, but Niou just ignored her. With his arm still around her, he walked into the elevator and started to head down.

"Sly bastard…" Niou grumbled, and let her go. He then faced Miho. "Miho, if you're ever going to date a man, date anyone _but _him." At this Miho raised her eyebrows.

"What's so wrong with Fuji? He's nice. He was just asking me to go on a cruise with him. And besides, it's okay since I'm not thinking of dating anyone."

"Anyways, just anyone but him." He put a strong emphasis. "There's a man's intuition that tells something else."

"O…kay? Like what?" She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Like… such as… he could—" He thought of the worst case scenarios a man could do to a girl. Not that he didn't know Miho's capabilities to defend herself, but it still worried him. "Never mind…"

"Well it's not like I'm going to… be that close to him anyways."

"True."

"Haru, I really don't get your standards. You say that one guy, what's his name, Atobe is just a spoiled rich kid, Oshitari's just a creep, and Fuji's a little off." She said.

"Well… hmm… that's true, but… I dunno."

"Then what do you suggest, mister Trickster?"

"Maybe you could look around you…?" Niou's eyes glinted a little. "I mean, you could look closely at people around you and you won't be distracted as much."

"People around me, huh… I wonder who? The guys at our school? Like Shiraishi? Tezuka?"

"…" Niou inwardly sighed. "Don't worry about it, it'll come to you soon enough." He pat her head gently and smiled.

* * *

"_What deal?" The girl asked the boy; out of the 50 or so people she rejected, she never encountered anyone who interested her as much as he did. _

"_I'll help you find your old partner. I heard that he's not dead." _

"…_How do you know about that." Miho's face tensed up. _

"_Don't worry, don't worry~ I did some research. Anyways, I'll be a good use to you, how does partnering up sound to you? It shouldn't hurt you since Hades wants you to get a partner by the end of the week. Better being with me than anyone who's up to no good." _

"_And How will I trust your capabilities?" She crossed her arms and said._

"_I graduated top at my 6__th__ year." He explained. _

"_6 years, huh…" Miho was impressed; usually, even the talented agents didn't graduate until their 8__th__ year of training or so. Normally people took as long as 10, 11 years._

" _If you don't want to believe me, then don't. But I can assure you, I can be of help. In a way, it's a gamble. A safe and trustworthy gamble." He adroitly talked his way. _

"…_Interesting. You're pretty good at persuading people." Miho's eyes glinted in interest and Niou smiled._

"_Why, thank you." _

"_What do you want in return?" _

"_Not much. Stacking up experience with an expert's all I need." He smiled reassuringly. "With quite the beautiful expert, if I must say so myself."_

"…_Alright, it's a deal then, Niou." After a few seconds of thinking, Miho put her hand out. _

"_That's Haru to you, Miho." He smiled and shook her hand._

* * *

**Subscribe and review! Please refer to my story Lucifer of Rikkaidai for an important news. I'll be updating this story one in a while since I have everything written out, but it won't be uploaded too often. But please wait for me, I'll be back as soon as I'm done! Thanks and love you all :) **_  
_

**-ScheVi**


	2. Normal Life For Them

You and I, In this World

Chapter 2: "Normal" Life for Them

"Did we have to come today…" Niou complained a little as they walked down the hallway of a university building. "We could've slept in…"

"We already missed two days." Miho replied. "We missed plenty, so let's try not to miss too much and have the school call grandpa."

"Kyaaa! It's Niou-senpai!" Freshman girls squealed as Niou and Miho passed by, each with a thick textbook in their hands.

"And it's Haraue-senpai…! Haaa~ They're just sooo perfect… they're smart, they're athletic, and they're good looking!" The girls and guys fawned and sighed as they watched the two talk and walk to their next class.

"I can't believe they're not dating. They're practically _glued _to each other!" A girl said, as they saw Niou and Miho walk side-by-side closer than necessary. They idly chatted as they walked, laughed and nudged each other a little time to time, sending flowers and butterflies.

"No way! I heard they live together…! When Haraue-senpai doesn't show up to school, Niou-senpai doesn't show up either. Not to mention, they always come and go to school together!"

"I wonder what they do at home…! Kyaaaa~!" The girls all jumped up and down as they blushed.

"Ugh…" Miho groaned and glanced back a little.

"Hahaha, isn't it good? We're pretty popular in this school, whether you've noticed it or not." Niou nudged her a little.

"You know we're not in the position to have fun with these kind of stuff." She rolled her eyes.

"Man, you're no fun!" Niou nudged him. "Just enjoy it while you can, alright? It's good that we can experience this at least for some amount of time unlike other people."

"…I guess you're right."

Then they walked into the class and sat down. Hades, the president of Tartarus, wanted them to complete their 4-year education in the top university of Japan to help them when the mission acquired knowledge in some areas.

They sat in class and listened to the lecture; even though Hades made it a requirement, the courses were already taught in Tartarus Educational Specialized Training, and it was just too easy for them.

Niou scribbled something during the lecture—and he slipped the note to Miho who was just as bored as he was.

_I'm bored. :(_

Miho rolled her eyes, but smiled at the silly note. Although Niou was a sly trickster and an incontrollable troublemaker, he was just an irresistibly cute sweetheart time to time. Cross that, maybe most of the time.

_Me too. _

Miho passed the note.

_Should I pull a prank on the teacher? :3 _

_No! Last time we almost got sent to the principal's office! _

_Aw, man, this class is a killer… :C_

"HARAUE! NIOU! Not paying attention again!" the professor yelled; although in most professors didn't care about students paying attention or not, this professor got pissed off to the top because Niou and Miho _never, ever_ did. At least Miho _tried _to; Niou was just an indestructible trouble maker.

"You're each going to solve a problem on the board. If you can't solve it, I'll take off 50 points from your grade each." He said. "Get over here."

Miho and Niou stood up; Niou was snickering inside while Miho groaned again for getting in trouble. The entire class watched the two, snickering. They knew very well that the two didn't pay attention because the class was easy, and it was funny since the professor got worked up.

"Solve these two." He gave them each a marker and stepped back to see them work. After opening the cap, they began writing immediately.

"Picking on them again?" One guy snickered.

"Come on, doesn't he know already that they're too smart to pick on?"

After two minutes, they each put down the marker and moved for the teacher to check the solution.

"Very well." He grunted. "You may sit down."

They walked back, and secretly bro-fisted underneath the table. Because they were just too cool.

The 100-minute class ended, and Miho and Niou left the class in joy.

"Yoohoo~ love birds~!" Someone shouted; they both turned back, and found a red-haired boy running up to them, followed by a curly black haired boy.

"What's up, Bunta, Akaya." Niou greeted the boy; Miho greeted him also.

"Hi Marui and Akaya."

"Hey guys~!" The red-hair chirped. "Hehe, reacting to that name as usual, I see you've admitted." He gave the two a suggestive look.

"Shut up." Niou playfully punched Marui's shoulder.

"Hi senpai!" The curly black haired boy smiled and greeted.

"Oh! So I was in class today, and I heard that, what's his face, millionaire Fuji asked you to go on a cruise with him! Are you really going?!" Marui looked at the girl and asked viciously.

"Huh…?" Miho gave him the weird look. "I don't remember him saying anything. Did I see him recently?"

"Kukuku, he asked you only yesterday, Miho." Niou nudged her and said; Miho zoned out, then remembered.

"Oh! Oh… nope, I'm not going." She smiled smugly.

"Why not!? It's a CRUISE!" He gasped and yelled.

"I… have to go grocery shopping and cook…?" Miho cracked a nervous grin.

Marui just stared at her with a blank face and face-palmed. "Ugh, be social once in a while, will ya? You can't be stuck with this sea-urchin all your college life, you'll lose all the better fish out there somewhere!" He pointed at Niou and groaned.

"Hey!" Niou said. "Who are you saying is the, "all the better fish!" I'm the best fish out there!"

"Well then, Miho, your eyes are sure in a bad condition." Marui sighed as he put his hand on Miho's shoulder.

"Don't pick on my Miho!" Niou snatched her away and safely tucked her underneath his arm.

"Ugh, please… You guys are seriously like love birds…" He mumbled the last part.

"What are we having for dinner?" Niou asked the girl next to him.

"Hm… actually, the fridge's empty. What do you want for dinner?"

"I say pasta."

"What! We ate that just yesterday! I'll just make rice with side dishes."

"Noooo I want pasta that you make." Niou whined and pouted. "You make better pasta than most restaurants."

"It's hard to make!"

"I'll help you!"

The two bickered continuously, and the other two standing aside just amusingly watched them.

"They seriously act like a married couple…" Akaya mumbled, and Marui nodded along. "It's amazing they got along for four years acting like _that. _But then again, it's them."

"Fine…" Miho finally sighed and approved. Niou grinned a winning grin.

"Hehehe. Let's go right now."

"Alright."

The four walked down the hallway and out of the school, and found people sitting at the picnic tables.

"Hey guys~" Marui cheerfully greeted again.

"Hey." The group greeted the four. In the group, there were Tezuka, Sanada, Shiraishi, Jackal, and Yanagi.

"Yo Miho and Niou! I heard that you two got in trouble in chemistry again!" Shiraishi laughed as he joked.

"Ahaha, yeah. We slipped past it though." Niou said, putting up a victory sign. Miho sighed next to him; there was no way to stop this trickster from making trouble.

"Oh? Someone new we haven't met?" The red-hair noticed the blue-haired boy, and the blue-haired boy stood up. He was _beautiful_—yes, beautiful, as in the term that is often used to describe women. He looked feminine with his hair mid-length and dressed in a rather non-masculine way.

"Hi, I'm Yukimura Seiichi." He smiled like an angel and greeted. His voice was pretty feminine too. "I just moved to this area."

"Hi, I'm Marui Bunta. Shikuyoro!" Marui introduced himself first and greeted.

"Kirihara Akaya."

"Niou Masaharu." They all introduced one by one.

"Haraue Miho." She introduced herself. And when she did so, Yukimura felt as if his heart was hit by lighting. He stared at her while the group talked and Niou definitely noticed more-than-just-interested gaze he was giving to Miho.

"Miho, we have to get going." Niou held her hand in his and pulled her towards the parking lot gently.

"Ah, right. See you guys later." She said, and after they said by, the two left to the parking lot.

"Shiraishi, are they dating?" Yukimura asked him quietly.

"Well, they deny it, but everyone knows that they have a thing at least. Why, do you like Miho?" Shiraishi smirked and asked; Yukimura blushed a little.

"N-No, it's just…" He stuttered, but even a fool could tell he liked her.

"Huhuhu. You could try, but I don't know if you can stand a chance against Niou. He's been around her for almost four years now. They're the school love birds, even though they deny it. Miho's the only one who calls Niou "Haru" and Niou's the only one who can call her "princess."" Shiraishi chuckled and looked at them.

Yukimura looked at the two walk in the distance, with their usual closer-than-normal distance between each other.

"Then how come they're not dating? They totally look like a couple to me." Yukimura asked.

"That's what everyone says. They're just really close. They live together too."

"They live together!?"

"Yeah. They're that close, and I think their parents are also close friends or something."

"I see…"

"A lot of guys have their eyes on Miho, but Niou's really protective of her. A lot of girls have their eyes on Niou, but he really doesn't look at anyone but Miho. Who said love was easy~ It's not an exaggeration when people say they act like a married couple."

* * *

They were somehow same but different. Miho was composed and cool, while Niou was outgoing and lively. Niou liked physical contact while Miho did not (but she grew out of it due to Niou). But they both had similar hobbies and favorites, and even their birthdays were only a day apart.

When they came home, Miho immediately began cooking. Niou wanted to help, but Miho shooed him away since he burnt a whole pot of tomato sauce the last time he tried to help her—and he dropped about three plates or so.

Their home was luxurious; it was roomy and filled with simple but elegant furniture. The outer wall was made entirely of glass, and it showed the cityscape. Then there were two bedrooms, and one secret underground room for their work. In the living room was a giant flat-screen TV, and it was designed to flip around to the glass side and communicate with Tartarus. Off to the huge balcony that also had glass doors was a big Jacuzzi that they used to relax after a mission of sort.

In the kitchen Miho was stirring the sauce for their dinner; then she felt a pair of hands clasp around her waist. Niou hugged her from behind, locked his fingers, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Miho~" He called her mischievously. Although she wasn't looking, she could imagine Niou with a sly look and tilted, suggestive eyebrows.

"Come on get off, I'm trying to cook here."

"I'll go away if I have a taste of the sauce~" He slyly said, snuggling up to her head.

"No, it's not done yet." She flatly said.

"Mihoooo let me have a spoon! Or one-tenth of a spoon!" He whined, disappointed that his attempt to be cute failed, and Miho rolled her eyes.

"I can't give it to you since it's not done yet!"

"Aw man… then can I have the shrimp right here?" He pointed at the cooked shrimps, and grabbed one.

"Wha—no! You can't do that, it's going to go in the sauce!"

"Too late." He smirked and put it in his mouth.

"Ugh, Haru, you're definitely not helping." When Miho turned away to get something from the fridge Niou grabbed another shrimp and put it in his mouth.

"Hey! I only cooked a little of those!"

Niou just hummed and walked away from the kitchen. Miho just sighed but smiled, and got back to her cooking.

"Haru, it's done~" She called him as she put the dishes on the dining table; Niou turned the TV off and ran to the table in blink of an eye. His eyes were definitely sparkling at the sight of the food.

They began eating; it was always their tradition to turn some nice music on and drink apple cider while eating food that Miho made. Niou simply loved Miho's cooking, and encouraged her to try more menus.

They always shared stories or two at the dinner table, whether it be about light gossips or deep talk, they _talked_. They never ran out of things to talk about and Niou and Miho both appreciated the fact.

"Haru, don't sleep late." Miho said, ready to close the door.

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

Miho walked into her room and closed the door; she climbed on the bed, and turned the heating mattress on. She then grabbed a book to read.

'_Ah… this is relaxing.' _She thought as she flipped the page. After about thirty minutes, it became 11 o'clock and Miho turned off the lights to sleep.

* * *

Miho was peacefully sleeping then suddenly she felt someone come in through the door; with her sensitive vision she could spot a dark silhouette slowly walking in.

"Haru, not again…" She mumbled, but half-asleep, Niou fell onto Miho's bed and dozed off to a deep sleep. Niou rolled around, hugged Miho by the waist and put his leg over hers, completely trapping her.

She sighed; ever since he sleep walked to her room after having some sort of a nightmare he slept over time to time. He liked warm stuff and Miho's heating mattress suit his taste just well. On top of that, he was half-asleep, so he wasn't quite aware of it himself.

Miho turned to face Niou; then his hair was in her face as he nuzzled into her neck. His hair smelled good—it was a shampoo smell, but shampoos smell good, no? His hair, especially the bushy top and smooth bottom strand (rattail) felt fun to touch. She put the blanket over him and dozed off to sleep herself.

Niou woke up feeling very warm for a winter—then he realized he was in Miho's room. He was in the center of the bed, covered by a thick blanket. He could hear the knife chopping something on a wooden cutting board outside—it was probably Miho making breakfast.

"Ah, shoot… I did it again."


	3. Adversity

One

Chapter 3: Adversity

"Ah, shoot I did it again…" Niou sat up on the bed, and mumbled. His top was off, not that it was surprising. He then checked the clock; 8:20. Class didn't start until 9:40, so they had time.

He had a pretty bad dream the night before—

"…_Killer!"_

"_Murderer!" _

_The shouts rang through his head and continued to echo. _

He was sweating heavily too. Although he took off his top midnight due to sweat, he was just glad that he at least had his pants on. It was one of those days when he'd just sleep (while being half naked) with Miho and feel extremely…

'_Gah, I feel like an animal who just jumps on women.' _He slapped himself mentally and thought.

He got off and made the bed, and clumsily walked out of Miho's room. Over the counters he saw his partner preparing breakfast.

"Morning." Miho first noticed him and greeted with a smile. He felt his troubles immediately dissolve away as he saw her smile.

"Good morning…" Niou yawned a little and greeted. "Sorry, it seems I slept over again. Was it uncomfortable?"

"Not really. And it's not like it's your first time invading my bed." She said as she chuckled. Niou laughed too, thinking that she was exactly right. He walked over to Miho, and lazily hugged her from behind while she cut some vegetables; he needed his daily dose of morning hug.

Miho first freaked out when he tried to hug her for the first time after couples months of living together—

"_What are you doing?!" Miho freaked out and yelped as she felt a pair of huge and long arms wrap around her from behind while she was working on a case report in the morning. _

"_Hugging you, duh. I need my daily dose of physical contact, so bear with it." Niou rubbed his face on Miho's shoulder more and mumbled. _

"_What happened to 'I'm too cool to get close to anyone' attitude!" _

"_Puri. Just be grateful that I'm treating you specially."_

"_No, thanks!" _

"_Too bad."_

But as the time passed with Niou's persistency, Miho got used to it (partly because she was tired of scolding him every time—he just didn't listen).

Niou kept silent and thought, still thinking of the dream. He hasn't dreamed of it for a while.

"You're awfully quiet. Did you have a bad dream?" She tilted her head back a little.

"I just didn't sleep well." He said.

"Come on, you always say that when you did. And you were sweating too. I can tell when you lie, Mr. Trickster. Your tricks don't work on me." She turned around and said.

"…Can I have a hug please?" He asked. Miho smiled and just gave him a long, tight, assuring hug.

"Thanks." Niou sighed a little and said. He almost dozed off to sleep in that position until Miho snapped him out of it.

"Haru, wake up and go wash and get dressed. You're going to catch cold."

"Yeah I should…" Feeling slightly chilly, he then lazily walked into his room. The routine repeated almost every day except during their overnight missions. Niou took a shower, and got changed into jeans, a sweater, and put some socks on. He then looked out the window to check the weather; it was just a cold, early winter in Tokyo.

Miho was already done setting up breakfast; there were rice, soup, side dishes, and fruit on the table.

After they were done eating, they had a cup of coffee to relax before going to school.

"Do we have to go to the HQ today?" Niou asked.

"Yup. You know it, Haru, it's a must." Miho replied.

"Aw, man… they could give us a break after that whole mission."

"Well, I guess that's just every agent's downside."

After they were done with school, they headed to Tartarus HQ;

Miho and Niou had change into formal clothes for a mission after-briefing and headed to the main hall. They did this for every mission so they knew what to do while being annoyed by it at the same time.

"And that's it." Niou made a concluding statement and all the counsels and official clapped for them.

"Phew… that's another one." Niou stretched and loosened his neck tie.

"Come on, it's not our first." Miho chuckled a little and organized the file.

"Excuse me, number 13 and 00." A worker came up to them. "The Hades wishes to see you."

"Alright."

* * *

Miho and Niou closed the door to Hades' office and saw the old man sitting on his usual work desk.

"Ah, welcome, you two." He greeted amiably and stood up. "Have a seat."

The two went to the couch and sat down as the Hades did the same.

"I feel rather sorry to tell you two after all the hard work in Italy, but…" He began. "You guys have another mission."

"Alright." The two just blinked. They didn't mind, really. Especially upon a special request from Hades himself.

"What is it?"

"Well, as you know, the world hasn't been very… safe, I should say, for anyone to live in these days." He said, rubbing his chin. "There's another terror."

"Terror?" The two frowned.

"It happened today 1:24 P.M.; some government officials and business leaders, as well as foreign ambassadors have been taken hostage by an unknown-named mafia. You will be dispatched as soon as you're done with me—and you'll be working with some FBI troops."

"Ah, great." Miho rolled her eyes.

"No use, they won't leave out of this one for sure." Hades shook his head also. "But there's one thing that I… have a little concern about."

The two just blinked and waited. It was the first time hearing such thing from the Hades, after all.

"You are going to be working with FBI. I'm not sure if you two will be able to carry out this mission in groups—you two have been working only as a pair, not in groups, after all."

"Well, we'll just be assigned tasks, right?" Miho asked. "We don't necessarily have to, you know, get along with the group."

"…Alright." Hades said with a bit of a skepticism. "Anyhow, you'll be notified of everything as you go. I have a chopper ready for you two, so go ahead and get ready." He said as he stood up.

"Yes sir." The two walked out.

"Ah, and Masaharu." He called.

"Yes?"

"As you can tell, she doesn't like the FBIs that much. I leave her in your hands." He smiled.

"Of course, sir." He smiled back and closed the door.

"What'd he say?" Miho asked as they briskly walked down the hall.

"Ah, just a nice little good luck." Niou said.

The two wore their armors as the chopper flew; they helped each other adjust gears and chatted until they arrived.

When the chopper landed, a group of soldiers in different type of armors greeted them.

"Good to have you, number 13 and 00." The man who seemed to be the head said and shook hands with the two. "We have the mission briefing ready. Follow me."

The two hopped into their oddly shaped chopper and began briefing.

"These hostages were taken at 1:24 PM today. The building's structure is quite simple—it's a church. There's the main hall, which the targets are holding the hostages, and there's the three sub-main halls to each side of the main hall." The commander explained through a hologram of the building structure.

"We'll have six teams, four on ground and two on top. Number 13 and 00, there was a special request from FBI and Tartarus' officials that you two not be under any FBI direction; but please do caution every approach you take." He said. "And do note that there will be more forces not just in the main hall but in the sub main hall as well. We'll countdown through the transmitter, and each team will follow their leader's orders. That's it."

They all got assigned into teams while Niou and Miho talked about their own plan in front of the hologram.

"I guess we'll just have to go through here." Niou pointed out.

"Then it leaves the rooftop on the top wide-open; I'll go through there, and if you hear gunshots come in that way. If not, then I'll meet you at the courtyard."

"Got it."

They got closer and closer to the church;

"Alright, get ready for take-off." The commander said. Everyone lined up on the rope one-by-one, Niou trailing behind Miho. They zipped down the rope and all split up to their respective positions.

"Let's go."

The two ran and split to where they had to go—Niou around the back, Miho up the top.

She saw a guard move around, watching the bottom. She quickly ran to the zone where he couldn't see, shot a spike rope up, catching his clothes. He was pulled down as Miho shot up—and she shot him between the eyes as they met in mid-air.

She sprang up, fired a few shots to take down the other guard.

"This is 13, I'm at the top, moving in." She spoke through the transmitter.

"Roger." The commander replied. He took off the speaker and said, "damn, she's already up on the roof."

She carefully made her way into the building; then down below, between wires, vaults, and poles, she saw about three heavily-armed henchmen. Then the commander's voice came through the transmitter—

"Detonate the explosives in three… two…"

She threw herself off of her footing and caught onto the vault with her leg.

"Huh?" The gunmen looked up, puzzled by the sound.

"One!"

Miho immediately began shooting, taking all three down in blink of an eye—then a door to where she was supposed to meet Niou started closing. She sprinted and slid, and made it just before the automatic door closed down.

Then she immediately took cover due to a bullet storm by a guy carrying a heavy machine gun. Then the glass broke through the large window and Niou jumped in, shooting the gunman. He was shot on the shoulder and torso; he dropped his machine gun.

"Phew. You okay Miho?" He said as he walked to the fallen man, pointing a gun at him.

"Yeah. Perfect timing." She said, walking towards him also. "Hm? What's that… ticking … ticking sound!? S_hit!_"

"MIHO!" Niou immediately tackled her and jumped towards the large glass window facing the back yard.

Boom

"Ugh…" When Miho regained consciousness nothing but orange and yellow flames in an empty night sky covered her vision—she stumbled to get up to find the church on fire.

"Number 13!" One of the FBI agents came running to her. He supported her up until she regained balance.

"Haru?" She looked around, then found a body lying not so far from her—

"HARU!" She screamed and ran to him, only to be stopped by several FBI agents holding her down while medics carried him away. "LET ME GO! HARU!"


	4. It's Not Happening

You and I, In this World

Chapter 4: It's Not Happening

It was about a week after the huge explosion at the church—Miho was off duty, riding her motorcycle for a little drive.

"_Miho." _Miho heard her grandfather through the transmissions.

"Hey grandpa. I didn't expect you to call today." She said, turning the little curve.

"_Yes, I know it's off-duty day, but I'd have to ask you to come to the HQ for a while. Sorry." _

"Nah it's fine. There's nothing to do without Haru anyways." She laughed and said.

"…_I'll see you then." _

"Bye."

She headed to the HQ and was greeted by the Hades' secretary.

"Hi Joel. It's been a while." She greeted the old friend and a good advisor.

"Nice to see you again, miss." He greeted amicably. "You see, Mr. Yoshikaze isn't available now."

"Really? Grandpa called me just couple minutes ago." She looked puzzled.

"Yes. He had to quickly attend a meeting. He'll be done in less than an hour."

"Alright. I'll just train a little then."

After she changed into training clothes she went to the sparring grounds and stretched a little.

"Number 13?" Someone called her—

"Hm?" When she turned around she saw a handsome man around his early 20's, with a green-ish hair and greyish-brown eyes.

"Would it be okay if I spar with you a bit?" He asked, smiling.

"Sure, I'm alone anyways." She agreed and walked onto one of the rings as she stretched her arms.

"Thank you, it's a great honor."

The two began warming up—then started intensely sparring.

'_This guy's good,' _Miho was rather impressed. _'definitely not a normal agent.'_ She thought as she blocked of a kick after another.

She was done blocking—thinking of ending it once and for all, she began pushing him hard and finally kicked him, making him fall on his back.

"Ow, ow… as expected of _the_ number 13." He smugly scratched his head and stood up. "You're good."

"Thanks, you're not too shabby either." She complimented. Yes, that was her way of complimenting agents. "Your name and number?"

"Echizen Ryoga, number 77." He held out his hand.

"Huh, never heard of you before." She cocked her head a little, grabbing his hand and shaking it.

"Yeah, I just came back from United States. I've been assigned there for quite a while now."

"I see. Well, I have to go. I'll see you around." She said after she checked the clock.

"Sure, it was nice sparring with you." He said as he watched her go.

"…" He carefully traced her until she was out of his sight. "Damn, that hurts." He chuckled and rubbed his side.

Miho took a quick shower, changed, and headed over to Hades' office.

"Hey grand—huh?" she was taken aback; the guy—Echizen Ryoga—whom she had just sparred with, was in his office also.

"Ah, Miho." The Hades smiled and gestured for her to come closer to him. She was puzzled—

"Hi, number 77. It's a surprise to see you here." She said.

"Hi number 13." He greeted with a nonchalant smile.

"You guys already know each other?" He blinked and asked.

"Yeah, I just sparred him while I waited for you…" She trailed off suspiciously, not liking this circumstance. "What's this all about?"

"Well, you see…" Hades began nervously. "Since Masaharu's in the hospital and unable to get back on duty for a while… I thought it'd be nice if you just permanently partner up with Ryoga." He pat Ryoga on the shoulder and said; meanwhile, Miho's face was appalled.

"What?"

"I mean, it's the usual for people to switch partners once every two years or so; you guys have been partners for almost four years now, so I thought it'd be nice for you to get used to a different partner." He said.

"You're kidding." She opened her mouth. "If it isn't Haru, I'm not partnering up with anyone."

"But sweety, he's injur—"

"He's going to recover fast."

"Miho, just do as I say, you guys have been together for an enough period of ti—"

"And is there such rule that I can't have a partner for more than four years?" She retorted.

"No, but—"

"Then that's settled. I reject your offer, and I apologize number 77, but I have no intention of switching up partner at all."

"Miho—"

Without listening to another word she burst out of his office, clearly upset by his egregious proposal.

Ryoga whistled. "Some strong-headed granddaughter you have, Mr. Yoshikaze." Ryoga said, grinning at their little argument.

"You don't have to remind me." He sighed and sat back down on the couch. "But she's been with him to long. She doesn't know how to work with other types of people at all." He reasoned, almost like a complaint.

'_A new partner? My ass!' _She growled inside as she put on a helmet. _'I'm not going to do what he says. No one can make me.' _

Then she got a phone call through her transmitter. Still grumbling, she answered.

"Hello?"

"_Yo, Haraue." _A man's voice came through the earphone.

"What's up Shishido." She replied.

"_Your prince charming just woke up." _

* * *

She ran and ran and abruptly stopped at a door—she opened as fast as she could and ran inside.

"Haru!" She ran to him only to be stopped by Shishido who put on a mischievous grin.

"Whoa, hold your horses, miss!" He laughed. "After all, he did just wake up. Can't have you pop his stitches again." He said and all the other agents in the room laughed. "Go on." He slightly pushed her towards the patient on the bed.

"…" She just stared at his face while he stared back at her with a puzzled look.

"Why, are you not happy to see me?" Niou saddened and said.

"N-no, I am!" She exclaimed, fidgeting. It's just all the attention in the room that was directed to her.

"Well, all is fine and I'm alive!" Niou exclaimed.

"You stupid, who said you should almost kill yourself trying to save me!" She punched his arm.

"Ow, ow…"

"S-Sorry!"

"Just kidding."

"BAKA!" She punched him harder—and he grabbed her arm and trapped her in a big hug.

"Oolala…" Shishido mumbled. "Damn that was a nice move."

"I missed you." And he showed his thumbs-up to the other agents that Miho was facing back to. They gave him their thumbs up.

"Get off of me!" She said and punched him again.

"OW! Now _that_ one really hurt…"

Everyone in the room laughed at a cute scene.

After everyone had left and the sun started setting, Miho sat by his bed quietly.

"You… heard of the new guy Echizen, right?" She carefully asked.

"….Yeah." He quietly answered.

"Well I don't care what grandpa tells me to do." She turned to him and answered. "You're my partner no matter what. And we still have that deal. So get well fast and come back on duty, kay?" She told him.

"Yeah…" He answered with a gentle smile. "Come here, you're going to stay with me tonight, right?" He checked her big bag and asked, lifting the blankets to invite her onto his bed.

"Yeah." She climbed onto the bed, snuggling up to him—she missed his hugs and whatnot since she couldn't see him for almost a week. She rested her head on his shoulder—

"I heard." Niou said. Miho looked up, puzzled.

"Heard what?"

"That you bawled your eyes out when I went into the emergency room." He grinned mischievously and looked down at her.

"Sh-Shut up. I didn't." Miho hid her blush by burying her head underneath his chin.

"Of course, of course."

"Hey, guess what." She started.

"What?"

"I got asked out at school the other day when you were gone—"

"WHAT?!" He shot up but rested back down due to his pain on the side. "From who?! Why?! Do I know him?!"

"I think you know him. What was his name, uh… Something Gyu. Ummm… Yagyuu?"

Niou gasped. "HE DIDN'T."

"Well he did." She shrugged. "Why, you don't like him?"

Niou's mouth remained wide open. "Obviously not!" He exclaimed. "He probably took his chance when I was gone, that asshole!" He freaked out even more.

"Don't worry, I rejected him." She calmed him down.

"…" He looked at her in a discontented look. "Jeesh, this kind of things happen when I'm gone." He pulled her closer and pouted.

"So hurry up and get better." She simply said.

"I will."

* * *

"Miho, you have a mission." The Hades said as he organized the last file on his desk.

"What? Now? What about Haru?" She frowned and asked.

"It's an easy one—you just have to hack something in America. And to do that you need another agent to just help you this once. So just relax and go."

"…Fine."

* * *

Niou was playing a phone game when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." He said. The door opened and the Hades came in with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He whispered to the bodyguard to wait outside.

"Sir." Niou tried to get out of bed but Hades just put him back down.

"Don't move, you're not fully healed yet." He smiled, putting down the bouquet on the table next to the bed.

"Thank you sir."

"I apologize, I couldn't come right away."

"Don't worry about it, sir. It's not that bad."

"That's a good news. Speaking of news… I have a news for you."

"…What is it?"

"…You see… FBI reported that Miho almost screwed up the entire plan for that mission because she acted by herself." He said, letting out a long sigh. "I thought she'd get used to working in a team, but… it seems she can't, since she was always working with you and you only."

"I… Don't understand why…"

"I'll make it clear. You probably heard that I already scouted in a new agent from America. I want you to find another partner, Masaharu. You are an amazing agent and a fine boy, you are sure to become something great in Tartarus. And same for Miho except she's too stubborn for her own good. You're spoiling her too much."

"But—"

"I'm requesting after thinking about it a long time. I already scheduled a mission for Ryoga and Miho to go on."

"Then… Miho…"

"It's already been almost 5 years now, Masaharu. Don't you think that's enough?"

"…"

"If you get any closer… it'll just be hard for both of you. How are you going to tell her?"

"I will…! I can tell her."

"Yet you haven't for 5 years. I'm requesting, Masaharu. Miho is the successor; I can't have her be caught up in personal feelings. Let me ask. How do you feel about Miho?"

Silence filled. Niou grasped the bed sheet and gulped.

"Miho is my…"

* * *

She was stretching before a melee session and Shishido Ryou, with his partner Ootori Choutarou, came over.

"Yo." He greeted.

"Hi Haraue-san."

"Hi guys." She greeted and continued to stretch.

"Oh, hey guess what. You remember number 66?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean Kazuya?" She answered; she had known him since she started training in Tartarus, and was practically one of her best friends aside Niou.

"Yeah."

"He said to give this to you and Niou." Shishido handed her an envelope and Miho opened it. "He's getting married."

"What?!" She yelped and hurriedly took out the card. It was a pre-wedding party.

"Th-This…!" She gapped and Ootori chuckled at her reaction. "How in the world did this stone-face manage to get a girl?!"

"Well I don't know how, but he sure got a pretty one." Shishido laughed. "What about Niou? I heard that you're going on a overseas mission in couple hours, no? Going alone?"

"Yeah… I won't be seeing Haru till the party then…" She said.

"You know what, I'll give him the other card. Go on your trip, I'll get this to him. Although, I'm not sure if Niou'll be able to go… you'll find out at the party."

"I guess so. Ah, it's almost the flight time. See you guys later."

While she was leaving the HQ, she got a phone call through her transmitter.

"Hello?"

"_Miho~!" _

"Hi Kana. What's up."

"_Just want to eat dinner. Wanna come over? You're bored without your husband anyways, right?" _

"He's not my husband." Miho growled.

"_Yeah~ yeah. Just come over anytime, 'kay? Then see ya!" _

So finding not much to do at home without Niou (as Kana said), Miho just headed over to Kana's place. They had dinner, and while they were drinking wine they talked about Tartarus.

"Kyaa, so romantic~!" She squealed, spinning around the wine glass in her hand.

"What are you talking about? He got hospitalized because of me. Do you know how scared I was?" Miho gave Kana a clout to her head and said.

"I wish I had that kind of a partner…!"

"Become a field agent if you're so jealous."

"But it's true~! Man, that Niou must love you lots."

"Haa…" Miho just sighed and rested her head down on the table. It was relaxing to spend a day with her friend, but talking about Niou made her miss him even more. And then the problem came up in her head, making her more tired of the situation.

"What's wrong?"

"Grandpa's trying to get a new partner for me."

"What?! Why!" She gasped and slammed her hand down on the table.

"I don't know… he said I need to get a chance to work with other people or something like that." She sighed.

"That's ridiculous! You two are like the best pair out there!"

"Yeah… And what's more, I got assigned to another mission with someone. Maybe should I just listen to grandpa…?"

"Come on, it's one in a million chance to find a guy like Niou! You love him too, right?"

"Hey!"

"Wah. Why, am I wrong?"

"I never thought of Haru in that kind of way."

"Never?"

"…Nope."

"That was a little late. Then let's see. Did you ever see Niou with another girl?"

"He's surrounded by girls a lot."

"But was he as intimate with them as he is with you?"

"…No."

"He's smart and pretty good-looking. He should have a lot of girls going after him, right?"

"Sure…?"

"But have you ever seen him actually date a girl before?"

"…Now that I think of it, nope."

"Then, does anyone else call you "princess" or hug you like he's addicted?"

"…No."

"Then, last question, is there any other pair that lasted as long as you guys did?"

"Definitely not."

"There you go." Kana just shrugged her shoulders and said, smiling confidently. "Just do what you feel like and you'll be fine. Follow your heart."

"Haa… alright."

"You said you're coming back on the day of the party, right? Did you buy a dress to wear like I told you to?"

"…Oh right."

"You're hopeless with this stuff." Kana chuckled and said. "I'll lend you a dress. Stop by before you go to the party, kay?"

* * *

**WEEEE a long chapter! Oh, and someone tell me just why Niou's so sexy. **

**Who's one character that you might consider sexy? For me it's my Haru of course. Leave a review, comment, likes/dislikes, concerns, whatever you feel like telling me! **

**Then until the next update, stay awesome guys. :) **


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